Fuel spill follows train derailment near Hell’s Gate

A empty CP Rail grain train jumped the track and derailed near Hell’s Gate early Thursday morning after a landslide.

Nucor Environmental Solutions deployed an evironmental response officer to the site and found a small hole in the vent line of the train engine’s fuel tank. Fuel was leaking out and into the Fraser River below.

The hole was temporarily patched up and the spill was stopped, Emergency Management B.C. said Friday.

Officials were unable to say whether the leak started at the derailment, or at some time thereafter as a result of pressures on the fuel tank resulting from the derailment. It’s not clear yet how much fuel might have spilled.

Affected First Nations have been updated and will continue to be notified of ongoing response actions.

“We continue to monitor the situation and crews are working to mitigate any damage as a result,” CP Rail said in a statement Friday, adding there is no threat to public safety.